Ex-FBI lawyer and Enron prosecutor to head US Justice Dept fraud unit

Aruna Viswanatha

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WASHINGTON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department has tapped a former FBI general counsel who also helped lead a series of prosecutions connected with the Enron collapse to head its Fraud Section in Washington, the department said on Friday.

Andrew Weissmann, who currently teaches at New York University School of Law, will take over the unit which is investigating alleged manipulation of foreign exchange rates by global banks and whether companies like Wal-Mart Stores Inc violated laws against bribing foreign officials.

Weissmann served as the general counsel for the FBI from 2011 to 2013.

In his new position, Weissmann will reunite with old colleagues. He worked under his new boss, Justice Department criminal division chief Leslie Caldwell, on the Enron Task Force in the early 2000s, eventually serving as director. He was also a federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of New York with Loretta Lynch, President Barack Obama's nominee to be the next attorney general.

Other members of the Enron Task Force have risen to top positions in the Obama Administration, including Kathryn Ruemmler, who served as Obama's top in-house lawyer and was initially considered a candidate to replace outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder. (Reporting by Aruna Viswanatha; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)